Share this:

They rarely meet. In fact, in NFL terms, the Patriots and 49ers are almost complete strangers, operating in different worlds – but the parallels and pulls between them run deep.

The Patriots are what the 49ers once were. And the 49ers want desperately to become what the Patriots are. Which makes the matchup Sunday night epic.

It’s not merely an interconference game between the NFL’s top offense and most dominant defense. This is a nationally televised pivot point for the 49ers, a chance to assert their newfound dominance and reclaim a piece of their past.

For most of the past decade, the teams have lived at opposite ends of the NFL universe: the Patriots in the penthouse, the 49ers in the slums. They have met only twice in the past decade and just once when Tom Brady was healthy – in the finale of the 2004 season as the Patriots were heading to their third Super Bowl in four seasons and the 49ers were in their descent into oblivion.

Brady’s team won 21-7. It was Brady’s only shot at payback to his childhood team, which had nine chances in the 2000 draft to select the quarterback from Serra High, but passed over him every time. New England finally took Brady in the sixth round, with the 199th pick of the draft.

His only chance for payback until now.

“After our Thursday night game against the Jets (on Thanksgiving), I tried to do a bunch of work on the Niners,” Brady said this week. “So I put a couple of days in there and actually after the game on Monday night, I felt like I just had to watch their most recent game and I was caught up. So, you try to take advantage of a little extra time, a little planning. I probably wouldn’t have done that 10 years ago.”

I think I speak for almost every fan of the 49ers when I say, “Uh oh.” Brady putting in extra work on the 49ers? Perhaps that draft-day motivation still burns bright.

Despite the unfamiliarity between the teams, there’s always been a type of synergy between the Patriots’ and the 49ers’ organizations. The Patriots assumed the throne the 49ers vacated after almost two decades of dominance: 16 straight seasons with 10 or more wins, five Super Bowl victories, 13 division titles.

Using the same formula of genius head coach and dominating quarterback, the Patriots have secured their 10th consecutive season of at least 10 wins. They have won 10 division titles and been to five Super Bowls. The Patriots are almost unbeatable late in the season: They have won 20 straight home games in December; New England coach Bill Belichick’s December record is second only to George Seifert’s.

Belichick’s team is now the gold standard. And, like many NFL coaches, Jim Harbaugh, though he has met Belichick only a few times, has copied New England.

“You look at things that have worked and there are certain things about his program, his team that you want to emulate,” Harbaugh said. “Quite a number of things. On field, off field, some of their draft strategies.”

Worn-out sweatshirts, secrecy and unwillingness to bow to any man are among Harbaugh’s sincerest forms of flattery.

Imitation runs both ways. The man who, even more than Belichick, is responsible for the dynasty, was weaned on the 49ers’ greatness. Brady emulated Joe Montana from the time he was a young boy and internalized what it meant to succeed in the NFL.

“Joe played his biggest in the biggest games,” Brady said last winter. “I love watching old highlights of him because he was very graceful playing the position. He always seemed very much in control.”

Brady, despite twice doing something Montana never did – lose a Super Bowl – is the league’s best quarterback. Even those who might have believed some of his early success was attributable to watered-down competition have acknowledged his excellence. Brady is in the conversation for greatest quarterback of all time, along with Montana.

And there’s a new parallel between the teams: When searching in vain for precedent for what Harbaugh is doing with his quarterbacks, many have alighted on Belichick’s decision to replace starter Drew Bledsoe with Brady, then in his second season, in 2001.

It’s not a direct parallel; Bledsoe was injured in the second game of the season, with a sheared blood vessel in his chest. He was hospitalized and had to rehabilitate for two months. By the time Bledsoe was cleared to play in mid-November, Brady had matched the Patriots’ win total from the season before and was firmly in control.

That’s different than replacing a starter who sat out a game and a half, but it’s easy to imagine Harbaugh channeling his inner-Belichick when making his risky decision.

“I’m sure whatever decision he makes is what he thinks is best for the football team,” Belichick said this week when asked about the similarities. “Certainly (Harbaugh) has the experience and track record to go with it. He played the position. He knows the position as much as anybody does. I’m sure he’s doing what’s best for his team. That’s what any coach would do.”

Brady, for his part, offered this advice to the 49ers’ new starting QB, Colin Kaepernick:

“Life is about taking advantage of opportunities and you never know when you’re going to get them,” Brady said. “You have to be prepared to take advantage.”

The 49ers have an opportunity Sunday in Foxborough. A chance to see if they are truly back among the elite.